The Science Fair



Harold enters the Possum Lake Science Fair, and Red tries to help out, which Harold doesn't want him to do.

Cast (in order of appearance):, , , , , , , , , ,

DVD: Red Green: Stuffed and Mounted, Vol. 1

Watch the episode on YouTube

DVD Commentary by Steve Smith
{from Stuffed and Mounted}

STEVE SMITH: All of us who work on the show like to be different. We don't think that's a liability. Uh, in the last scene of "The Science Fair", this episode, instead of having us just look all blown up with all blackened hair everywhere and all that kinda stuff, we did just the one side. And it's– it's really my favorite thing about the whole episode, and you'll see why that happened when you watch it.

Segment Summary
See also: Transcript

Plot: After the guys at the Lodge drink Harold's bathtub science experiment, Harold tries multiple new experiments to enter the Possum Lake Science Fair. Red insists on helping at every turn, against Harold's continued objections, eventually producing a telescope made from car mirrors and an extremely large crystal radio set. Harold finally enters the fair with a "frank and explicit look at the germination of soybeans", but an explosion there brings things to an abrupt, smoky end.

Adventures With Bill: Bill tries out Olympic gymnastics.

The Possum Lodge Word Game: Mike tries to guess the word "father" to win a weekend for two at the Solitaire Championships.

Handyman Corner: Red shows how to make a 90-degree angle cut using a table saw.

Red's Sage Advice: Why men never stop to ask for directions when lost.

Red's Campfire Songs: Fat dogs and dog food.

Men Anonymous: Dalton does the laundry and is so amazed by his wife's reaction that he washes all of her wool sweaters.

The Experts: Hap claims to have invented basketball, that it originated out of being asked by the C.I.A. what he did for a living and he chose "sports inventor", never realizing (or actually does realize) that the game would catch on.

Explanations

 * Harold's initial science project was to pickle pollywogs. A pollywog, more commonly called a tadpole, is the larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian, particularly that of a frog or a toad.

Real-World References

 * Red's telescope has apparently been made out of various car parts, such as the Ford Galaxy and the Mercury Comet.
 * During the Experts scene, Harold mentions the movie Hoop Dreams.

Famous People

 * James Naismith, allegedly Hap's C.I.A. cover name, was indeed a Canadian who invented basketball.
 * Hap mentions that he was involved with Teddy's Rough Riders.
 * In the same scene, Hap also mentions Franco, the Spanish general, dictator and head of state during the Spanish Civil War. As he ruled Spain during this time and during World War II, during which Spain was a neutral country yet offered limited support to the Axis powers, this is probably what Hap meant when he said that Spain now is no longer a threat to world peace.